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Coral Reefs: Treasures of the Ocean in Danger

nemuneko.jc/Flickr

Most of us know how critical coral
reefs are to maintaining the health of our oceans and marine life. But did you
know that humans depend on them, too – and that by the year 2030, 90% of coral
reefs around the world will be threatened if action isn’t taken to protect them?

One of the most well-known coral reef relationships is the
one between the clownfish and the sea anemone (pictured above). Clownfish
defend the anemone from predators while the anemone provides the clownfish with
a safe home. At one time, anemones were thought to be plants, but in 1753,
scientists realized they were animals, just like the clownfish.

Sea anemones are members of the phylum Cnidaria (nahy-dair-ee-uh).
Along with algae, Cnidaria (or polyps) are the building blocks of coral reefs
worldwide, what Céline Cousteau has called
the “cradle of life in the ocean”. Coral reefs support thousands of varieties
of plants and animals, anchoring hotspots of diversity similar to those provided
by tropical rainforests.

Humans need coral reefs too.
Corals support the fish eaten by over a billion people worldwide. In developing
countries, a quarter of the fish caught comes from coral reefs. These
shallow-water ecosystems also provide tourism dollars, protection from coastal
erosion, and medical treatments for human diseases like cancer and HIV.

But human activity is putting coral reefs at great risk
through pollution, damaging fishing practices, and climate change. Over 85% of Southeast
Asia’s Coral Triangle is directly threatened by human activity and the rest of
the world’s reefs are headed in the same direction:

EarthShare organizations are working hard to ensure that we
don’t lose these treasures of the ocean. In the Gulf of California, the Natural
Resources Defense Council is working with partners and citizen groups to keep
tourism development out of one of the richest marine systems on the planet in Cabo
Pulmo National Park.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is helping
communities manage their coral reefs in a more sustainable way through
resources like Reefs at Risk Revisited in
the Coral Triangle. The report was recently translated to Indonesian so
that local leaders can implement the prescriptions.

WRI’s report reveals that some reefs are faring better than
others. Scientists at the Wildlife
Conservation Society and Defenders of Wildlife are pinpointing these
differences through “stress
tests” and other research. These tests will help conservationists
prioritize the regions and species that need the most protecting and those that
are likely to be resilient in the face of climate change. Since the ocean is
undergoing a much faster rate of warming from climate change than the
atmosphere, answering these questions is vital to saving coral reefs.